Christian hip hop is a cross-genre of contemporary Christian music and hip hop music. It emerged from urban contemporary music and Christian media in the United States during the 1980s.
Lecrae Devaughn Moore is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record and film producer, record executive, actor, and entrepreneur.
Rapzilla is a Christian hip hop online magazine. The website contains many sections such as the latest news, album reviews, articles, interviews, music downloads, videos, release dates, and columns.
The 116, formerly 116 Clique, is an American Southern Christian hip hop collective originally from Dallas, Texas signed to the Atlanta-based Reach Records. The group performs a wide variety of contemporary hip hop styles, from chopped and screwed to trap to Latin hip hop. The 116 Clique is named after the Bible verse Romans 1:16: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile." For them it means acknowledging the power of the Gospel and the divine calling to proclaim it in every area of their life. "We can lay our lives down to serve and glorify God in everything we do."
The discography of Lecrae, an American Christian hip hop artist, consists of 11 studio albums, two of which were collaborative; four mixtapes; two extended plays, one of which was collaborative; 114 singles, including 63 as a featured performer; 67 music videos, including 31 as a featured performer; and 86 guest and other appearances. Lecrae debuted with Real Talk in 2004 through Reach Records; the album was re-issued the following year by Cross Movement Records. After the Music Stops followed in 2006 and his third solo album, Rebel, was released in 2008 and reached No. 1 on the Gospel chart, the first Christian hip hop album to do so. Rehab, his fourth solo album, was released in 2010 and reached No. 1 on the Gospel, Christian, and Independent charts, and garnered a nomination at the 53rd Grammy Awards. Rehab: The Overdose, was released on January 11, 2011, and peaked at No. 1 on the Christian and Gospel charts. Lecrae began garnering mainstream attention when he performed at the 2011 BET Hip Hop Awards Cypher and was featured on the Statik Selektah song "Live and Let Live" from his Population Control album.
Church Clothes is the first mixtape by Christian hip hop artist Lecrae, released for free on May 10, 2012, and hosted by DJ Don Cannon. It featured No Malice of Clipse on the song "Darkest Hour", and included production work by 9th Wonder, Boi-1da, S1 and Street Symphony. Label-mates Tedashii and Andy Mineo, as well as other fellow Christian hip-hop artists such as Dre Murray, Thi'sl, Swoope, Christon Gray, and Braille, also made appearances on the album. The mixtape was downloaded 100,000 times in 48 hours, and met with critical acclaim. It received controversy in Christian media upon its release due to its condemnation of hypocrisy in the Christian Church and Lecrae's collaboration with the mainstream producer Don Cannon. A shorter, remastered EP version was released on iTunes on June 25, 2012. The EP debuted at number 10 on the Billboard Christian Albums and Gospel Albums charts.
Derek Johnson, Jr., better known by his stage name Derek Minor and former stage name PRo, is an American Christian hip hop artist, singer, record producer, entrepreneur, actor, and screenwriter. He co-founded the hip-hop record label Reflection Music Group (RMG) with Doc Watson, and signed to Reach Records in a joint venture between the two labels in 2011. In 2012, Johnson announced that he had changed his stage name from Pro to Derek Minor. In 2014, he announced that as his two-album contract with Reach was complete, he would no longer be publishing releases through that label.
Reach Records is an American independent record label specializing in Christian hip hop. The label was founded in 2004 by Ben Washer and the hip-hop artist Lecrae. In addition to Lecrae, the Reach Records roster contains artists like Tedashii, Trip Lee, Andy Mineo, 1K Phew, WHATUPRG, Wande, Hulvey, and Limoblaze. The hip-hop collective 116 operates under the label and consists primarily of the label's solo acts. The artists Sho Baraka, Derek Minor, Aha Gazelle, KB and Gawvi were formerly signed to the label, and DJ Official was under the label until his death.
Aulsondro "Novelist" Hamilton, better known by his stage name Emcee N.I.C.E., is an American Christian hip hop recording artist, rapper, singer, songwriter, record and film producer, record executive, actor, inventor, entrepreneur and former lead vocalist/rapper of the duo KansasCali. He is the co-creator of the animated music series Da Jammies, The co-founder of The Stellar Award winning radio station God’s House of Hip Hop Radio powered by Dash Radio, A Best Selling Author for his book “Music Release University”. He is president of two non-profit organizations, The iTL Foundation of Los Angeles and Urbanomics 101, the Managing Editor for RYZE Magazine, a christian hip hop lifestyle magazine and an American Inventor. He is the co-producer of 2 Pac's Thugz Mansion acoustic, the first single released from the certified triple platinum album Better Dayz and the Nas acoustic Thugz Mansion (N.Y.), off of the certified platinum album God's Son
Beautiful Eulogy is a Christian experimental hip hop group and production team from Portland, Oregon, signed to the label Humble Beast. Composed of rappers Braille and Odd Thomas and producer Courtland Urbano, the group coalesced in 2011 while the three artists were involved in the creation of Braille's seventh release, Native Lungs. Known for its experimental and eclectic sound, the group melds myriad styles of hip hop with genres such as folk, electronic, hymn tunes, and modern worship music. After contributing a song to the charity compilation King Kulture and making a guest appearance on Lecrae's Church Clothes, the band released its debut album, Satellite Kite, on June 19, 2012. A second album, Instruments of Mercy, came out on October 29, 2013. Called one of the most innovative hip hop groups in Portland, Beautiful Eulogy has met with critical acclaim, with particular praise directed at the group's creative, unconventional sound and deep theological lyrics.
Hostyle Gospel is an American Christian hip hop group from Champaign, Illinois. Its members include Demetrius Morton, Raynard Glass (Proverb), and Fontaine Pizza. Hostyle Gospel is best known for their aggressive Christian rap style. The group is also known for creating their own sound called Christian battle music, which also can be referred to as Christian war music or The Hostyle Gospel sound.
Dash Radio is a digital radio broadcasting platform with over 80 radio stations. These stations are curated by DJs, radio personalities, musicians, etc. The platform includes partner stations curated by Snoop Dogg, Kylie Jenner, Lil Wayne, Tech N9ne, Borgore, B-Real of Cypress Hill, and others. Dash Radio has no subscription fees and is commercial-free.
Gabriel Alberto Azucena, who goes by the stage name GAWVI, is an American Christian hip hop artist and music producer, formerly for Reach Records. Born in the Bronx, New York, he has released three extended plays, five albums, and twenty-three singles including his songs; "In the Water" and "Late Nights." His career commenced in 2008, doing production work for Lecrae and Trip Lee, who continue to be his most consistent collaborators. In early 2016, he was officially signed to Reach Records. In early 2022, Reach ended their professional relationship with Gawvi.
All Things Work Together is the eighth studio album by American Christian hip hop artist Lecrae, released on September 22, 2017, through Reach Records and Columbia Records, also making it his first major label release. The album features appearances from Tori Kelly, Ty Dolla Sign, 1K Phew, Kierra Sheard, Taylor Hill, Aha Gazelle, Jawan Harris and Verse Simmonds.
Mutiat Yewande Isola, professionally known as Wande, is a Nigerian American Christian hip hop artist, actress and former journalist and A&R administrator from Austin, Texas, United States. She signed to the Christian hip hop label Reach Records in 2019, where she had worked as an A&R administrator. Prior to that, as an independent artist, from 2013 through 2018 she released multiple singles and made numerous featured appearances on various songs, as well as worked as a music journalist. She is the first woman signed to Reach. Her debut extended play (EP), Exit, was released on April 24, 2020, followed by a mini-EP The Decision on December 4, 2020.
God's House of Hip Hop Radio is an internet radio station airing Christian hip hop music on the Dash Radio platform. The station is based in Los Angeles and is owned and programmed by Emcee N.I.C.E. and Chantal Grayson.
Restoration is the ninth solo studio album by American Christian hip hop artist Lecrae, released on August 21, 2020, through Reach Records. The album features appearances from YK Osiris, Marc E. Bassy, John Legend, Jozzy, Kirk Franklin, DaniLeigh, BJ the Chicago Kid and Gwen Bunn. A deluxe edition of the album, with six additional tracks, was released on November 13, 2020, which included additional guest appearances from Rapsody, Ty Brasel, as well as labelmates Andy Mineo, Hulvey, WHATUPRG, Wande and 1K Phew. The album peaked at No. 1 on the US Christian Albums chart and No. 5 on the UK Christian & Gospel Albums chart. It received universal critical acclaim. It also received a Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song nomination at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards for the song "Sunday Morning".
The discography of 116, formerly known as 116 Clique, a Christian hip hop collective originating from Dallas, Texas, consists of six studio albums, one of which was a remix album, one remixed extended play (EP), twenty singles, seven music videos, and one video album. The collective formed in 2005 under the auspices of Reach Records, and released its first album, The Compilation Album, that year on December 27. The following year, a remixed version of the album by DJ Primo was released on July 6. A third album, 13 Letters, followed on June 19, 2007, which charted at No. 10 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart and No. 29 on the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart, as well as the remix EP Amped on August 28. Man Up was released on September 27, 2011. A Christmas album, The Gift: A Christmas Compilation, was released on November 23, 2018, and charted at No. 27 on the Christian Albums chart. The Gift: Live Sessions, a live video album recorded at the 1971 studios in Atlanta, was released on November 28, 2019. The sixth album from the collective, Sin Vergüenza, a collaboration between Reach and No Apologies Music and a combination of continental United States hip hop and Latin American urbano, was released on October 23, 2020. All twelve tracks from the recording were released as singles.
Jacob Cardec, artistically known as Cardec Drums, is a Puerto Rican drummer, music producer and songwriter, specializing in Christian urban music who has worked with artists from Reach Records, Reflection Music Group and Funkytown Music. He has received various awards for his work with KB, Lecrae, Redimi2, Almighty and Andy Mineo.
